


After Midnight

by SorryICantBeWhatYouNeed



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: JUST FLUFF REALLY, M/M, New Years Eve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-31
Updated: 2017-12-31
Packaged: 2019-02-25 21:43:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13221825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SorryICantBeWhatYouNeed/pseuds/SorryICantBeWhatYouNeed
Summary: They only have an hour together a year, but that's still enough time for Michael to fall in love.





	After Midnight

**Author's Note:**

> I've been sitting on this for over a year since I failed to get it done in time last year and then had to go back and do a lot of editing. I didn't intend for it to be this long but I'm really happy with it and I hope you enjoy!

_December 31st 2013, 10:50 pm._

Michael liked his job… for the most part. The people he worked with were vibrant, creative. He had his own office and no one really bugged him unless they desperately needed his character designs or storyboards. He made good money and they had catered lunches every Friday so that was sweet.

However, as nice as the company was on some things, it was complete shit on others. Like the fact that the air conditioner broke every other week, not that they needed it in the winter but still, the birds loved flying into the windows towards the top floor of the building meaning they had a repairman on speed dial and the company could not throw a good party if a group of rockstars planned it for them.

That being said, if anyone in this place wanted to get their spring bonus they _had_ to attend the New Year's Eve party on the roof of some fancy overpriced hotel. He had only worked at the place since July but he knew they weren’t fucking around, mainly because every morning he’d walk in to find either Gus or Burnie at Geoff’s desk asking him if he had any plans for the New Year, if he was throwing his own party this year like he supposedly had last year, and apparently that one contained more employees than the work one did which didn’t sit well with their manager Matt.

So Michael went, but he didn’t like it. He signed in at the small table by the doorway to the roof, leaving a little frowny face next to his name and walking straight for the alcohol before making his way to the farthest corner of the roof.

The dance floor was still changing colors, had been since he got there at nine, blue to red to yellow to green to blue and so on and so forth. There were no people on it though, especially because no one here was young and stupid enough to actually enjoy _Gangnam Style_ or any bitchy breakup song Taylor Swift had released that year.

The food was too cliche, little triangular chips with caviar in the center, meatballs on toothpicks and shrimp in perfect circles. Not really Michael’s taste.

Geoff had come even though he had just shrugged or smirked every time he was asked. He stood on the other side of the rooftop with Griffon and Jack, laughing like they were part of the funniest joke on the entire planet.

He thought about going over to Ryan and Trevor, but they seemed pretty intent on not making eye contact with anyone that approached so they could stay in their little world of mystery. Burnie and Gus had stationed themselves by the food so that anyone that went near had to speak to them about how fabulous their night was going or tell them all about their Christmas at home. He didn’t need or want to go over there, mainly because there were people walking around with trays of champagne and that was enough for him. Jeremy and Matt hadn’t even showed up yet and it didn’t look like they were actually going to, opting to stay home and work or play video games. Michael didn’t know which one, both probably.

There were a few faces Michael didn’t know yet, spouses and other plus ones that were most likely dragged along because they owed someone a favor and not because they wanted to. If Michael actually had any friends or people he talked to outside of this job he probably still wouldn’t have invited them. For their own sanity really.

He thought about walking over to where Geoff was since it seemed everyone hovered around him but at the last minute he turned his back on the party and looked down at the city below. It looked fun, all the people running around and holding hands, happy to have someone to kiss when the clock struck midnight. He kind of wanted to be a part of it but at the same time he knew if he wasn't standing on that rooftop with a bunch of people he saw everyday and never talked to he would just be at home with a bottle of vodka and a bag of Doritos.  

“Another drink?” a man with bright blonde hair asked lowering a tray in front of him with full glasses. He nodded at the guy and grabbed two, turning before the guy could look at him funny or question him.

“One hour,” he mumbled. “Just one more hour,”

He wondered what people back home were up to and then remembered that it was already midnight for them. They’d be jumping around in their living rooms with confetti poppers and all sorts of alcohol, kissing and laughing with friends, having fun.

He looked at the streets below, people rushing in and out of bars or stumbling home, cars rolling by. Michael was a little jealous of them.

“So are you going to jump or am I?” an unfamiliar foreign voice asked next to him. He looked over to see a tall, thin man leaning against the ledge. He had bright eyes that had a lighthearted look to them and a nose that was too large for his face. Michael had definitely never seen him before. When he didn’t answer after a few moments the guy spoke again. “You’ve been standing over here alone for an hour drinking and I’ve been bored out of my mind since Geoff came down to the lobby to get me and drag me to this funeral,”

Michael took a few minutes to process this before he realized if he didn’t say something soon this guy might actually think he was going to jump. “Yeah, this party is lame as shit,”

“They always are. Geoff promises me every year that they won’t be as bad as the last but it turns out he’s just a fat liar,”

Geoff was one of the only people Michael enjoyed working with. He was always sleeping at his desk down the hall and causing mischief that he normally warned Michael about because on his first day Geoff approached him and said, ‘they said you’re from Jersey and I really don’t wanna get my ass kicked so don’t eat the yogurt in the fridge because I definitely spiked it with hot sauce,’ before patting him on the back and walking out of the room.

An hour later Michael heard someone hacking their lungs out in the kitchen and Geoff’s loud laughter from the other end of the hall.

Geoff had never mentioned having a cute friend.

“How many have you been to?”

“This’ll be the fourth and since I know I’d remember your face I’m going to assume that you’re new here,”

Michael could feel the back of his neck heating up. “Uh, yeah. Started back in July,”

“Neat, what do you do?”

“I’m on the design team,”

“Geoff didn’t tell me he got a new kid on his team,”

“Oh…” Michael didn’t really know what to say. ‘Yeah I’m just so great he totally should’ve,’ or ‘he didn’t tell me that he had a really cute foreign friend either’.

“You live with a guy for five years and ya think ya know em right?” he reached for Michael’s glass of champagne, plucking it from his fingers and taking a long sip. His eyes were bright with mirth while he looked Michael up and down.

Michael forced himself to look away and think of something to say. Then he processed what the man had just said. “I didn’t know Geoff had a roommate,” it was true. He had been to Geoff’s house a handful of times after he started and not once did Geoff mention that someone else lived there. In fact he called the second bedroom a spare room.

“I mean… kinda. I spend a lot of time traveling so I hardly count as a real roommate. Sleeping in hotels and all that,” he waved his arm around absentmindedly. Michael nodded and looked back down over the edge of the building. There were cars racing around downtown, people rushing to get to parties or home before the clock hit midnight and they missed the start of the new year stuck in traffic.

He suddenly didn’t envy them.

“So… you don’t work here,” he said stupidly, closing his eyes and letting out a breath as soon as the words were out. “I mean, we’ve already established that. What do you do then? For work,” he added, trying not to hit himself in the face for being so stupid. It was like he was in a shitty high school movie.

“I work on slow motion cinematography, part time photographer for aspiring models and high school seniors and all that,” he said it like it was no big deal. Michael supposed to him it wasn’t anymore.

“That's pretty cool,”

“You think so?” He sounded genuinely shocked.

“Yeah, I bet the parties you guys throw after a successful shoot are more exciting than this one,” he shrugged.

“I- yeah. They're top,”

“Why aren’t you at one of those parties then? Surely some director or actor somewhere is throwing a rager,”

“I always come home for New Years. Geoff likes to celebrate with me,”

“That’s nice,”

“Yeah, I bet your friends are doing shots and lines of coke for you tonight since you’re stuck here,”

“Yeah, all zero of them,”

“Aw don’t be like that,” the man smiled, moving so he was standing next to Michael instead of in front of him, looking out at the rest of the party. “I’m sure you’ve got plenty of friends mourning your absence tonight,”

“Yeah, totally,” he didn’t tell this guy that outside of this office he didn’t speak to anyone and there were only a few people at the damn company he actually enjoyed.

They were quiet again, looking around the roof and trying to avoid eye contact with anyone when the guy seemed to light up. “Where are my bloody manners? I’m Gavin,” he stuck his hand out. It took Michael longer than he would’ve liked to admit to realize that they hadn’t actually exchanged names yet and this guy wasn’t just repeating old information.

“Michael,”

“Nice to officially meet you,” Gavin grinned.

“Yeah, you too,” he nodded.

“Are you going to drink that one too?” he was pointing at the extra glass of champagne next to Michael on the ledge.

“Well since you took my other one, yes,” he grabbed it and held it up to Gavin in a silent cheer before taking a sip.

“You know Michael, I was told once that sharing was caring,” Gavin batted his lashes. Michael didn’t know who the hell this guy was, but he definitely liked him. He was new and had an energy Michael didn’t get to see around much the office with everyone so focused on their computer screens all day. He was bold too, Michael had never met someone that just walked up to a complete stranger and started talking without stopping. Most of Michael’s acquaintances in life were only because they were forced together during school or work for a project.

“I think you trying to share whatever diseases you have is lovely but I have important things I need to focus on in the upcoming year,”

“I thought we were becoming friends here Michael, and now you insult me. I’m hurt,” Gavin dropped a hand over his heart and if his eyes were shining with silent laughter Michael might’ve believed that he actually hurt his feelings.

“I’m sure you’ll survive,” he brought his drink up to his lips again to try and hide the grin threatening to tear his face apart.

As much as he was dreading this thing he was actually over the moon that someone was talking to him, making him unavailable from other people and keeping him preoccupied. At the same time though, why wasn’t this guy hanging out with Geoff, and if he had come to a few of these before why wasn’t he schmoozing with everyone else.

“So Michael, what kinda stuff are you working on right now?”

He had been asked this question plenty of times, normally by his boss and sometimes by the few people he’d get caught in a conversation with whenever he did venture outside of his apartment.

“Right now I’m helping finish some character designs and storyboard crap. Can’t talk about it too much,”

It sounded kind of pathetic when he put it like that. He knew his job was important and without him starting to get the ball rolling no one else would have anything to go off of but at the same time it sounded so… small. He sucked at art, would usually just write a general outline of what they should look like and what their surroundings should be and he was shit at writing dialogue which was usually where Geoff came in.

“That sounds awesome!” Gavin chirped. He looked amazed. “I’d love to hear some of your ideas later,”

“Maybe,” Michael could feel his cheeks heating up. No one outside of the company wanted to hear his ideas. Gavin sounded genuinely interested. “But only if you get me into one of those crazy directors parties sometime,” he winked. God he fucking winked at a complete stranger. This party was not good for him.

“I’m sure that can be done,” Gavin smiled. Michael thought he had a nice smile. “So Michael, why are you over here all alone while your coworkers mingle and drink together?”

“Why aren’t you hanging out with your roommate?” he countered and Gavin’s face went bright red. Michael raised a brow but waited patiently.

“He’s busy making sure everyone else enjoys themselves. He knows how much these things suck,” the answer sounded kind of lame and from the nervous look in Gavin’s eyes Michael knew he thought it was too.

“That’s nice of him,”

“Yeah…” Gavin nodded looking down at the ground and all the people below them. “Answer my question now,” he looked up abruptly, eyes piercing when they met Michael’s.

“Demanding,”

“I answered yours, you answer mine,”

“Okay. I don’t really talk to anyone here, simple,”

“Why’s that?”

“I’m the newest guy here, everyone already has their little cliques and groups and friends, I don’t really fit in well so I just don’t bother,”

“That’s kinda depressing don’t you think?”

“Well you’ve been over here talking to me for twenty minutes and you haven’t left or jumped so I guess not,”

Gavin barked out a laugh and it made Michael grin. He had a nice laugh too.

“I guess you’re right,”

They were quiet again, but Michael found that he didn’t really mind it. The company was a surprise, a little awkward but nice, better than standing alone and watching strangers have a good time. Plus it was nice to not be standing in complete silence or non-stop chatter. It gave his mind time to think, breathe. Gavin didn’t seem to mind it either, jolting when Michael was the one to speak next.

“So Gavin, if you weren’t here where would you be?”

“Probably at home,”

“Not at a rager?”

“Nah, most actors are snobs and directors are too busy making sure their party looks perfect, like a scene from a movie. I like stuff like this,”

“Didn’t you call it lame not too long ago?”

“Well yeah, but it’s not scripted, it doesn’t feel rehearsed. It’s just a bunch of people that work together hanging out and waiting to shoot fireworks off,”

“I’m sure it’s not that bad,”

“It really is, everything has to be perfect all the time, like their work goes home with them too. I always feel like I’m in the middle of a scene as an extra cause no one told me that I needed to be behind the camera and I wandered into the shot,”

“Damn dude, that must be awkward,”

“It really is,” he looked around, surveying the other party-goers before turning back to Michael. “If you weren’t here what would you be doing?”

“Drinking at home and eating my weight in chips,” he answered without missing a beat.

“That doesn’t sound very fun,”

“It would be,” he assured. Well, it would’ve been if he had never met Gavin he thought. In the short time they had been speaking he had already found himself completely wrapped in Gavin. To be honest, he didn’t mind at all.

“What do you think they’re doing?” Gavin asked pointing to a group of people walking down the street, yelling and swaying in all different directions.

“Well I’m guessing they just left a bar and are going to stumble somewhere to watch fireworks,”

“And them?” he pointed towards a couple, hands swinging between them while they waited for the crossing signal to light up.

“Killing time until they can make out obscenely for everyone to watch,”

“Do you think they’re all having fun?”

“Probably,”

“Hmm,”

“What?”

“It just sucks that you’re having such a shit night stuck up here and all these other people are having a great end of the year,”

“If having a shit time at this party brings me a big bonus in the springtime then I’ll take it,” he shrugged.

“That’s not fair, maybe I’ll talk to Burnie,”

“And say what? Your roommate and his coworker don’t like the party? Don’t throw me under the bus,”

“I would never!” Gavin placed a hand over his heart. Michael rolled his eyes and turned, resting his back against the ledge so he faced the party. He watched Geoff and Jack, heads bent together while they watched some show on his phone, Trevor and Ryan standing close, hands touching but not gripping, Miles and Barbara had retreated to the other side of the roof, looking down as well. As shit as this party was it was giving everyone time to be together at their place of work and not feel awkward about it. “Give me the rundown,” Gavin’s voice startled him.

“What?”

“Of everyone here, tell me about them,”

“Don’t you already know most of them?”

“From Geoff’s perspective, I wanna know yours,”

“Why does it matter?”

“Perspective always matters,” Gavin said matter-of-factly.

“Well, there’s Gus, he hates people and is always on his computer. Burnie loves people and is always on his computer. Griffon is good at art and not giving a fuck what people think, Geoff loves causing problems for everyone else and placing the blame on everyone else. Trevor is good at knowing where characters should be standing and moving towards at certain points and Ryan makes it possible. I don’t really know what else to say,” he finished lamely.

“That’s all you know about your coworkers?” Gavin actually looked shocked. Michael didn’t know why, they already talked about the fact that Michael basically had no friends.

“Yeah,”

“God Michael, that’s so sad,”

“What?” he snapped. He didn’t like the pitying look on the other man’s face.

“You work with them every day, know more than their names and job descriptions,”

“You’re kind of a pain in the ass you know?” Michael huffed.

“I mean, actors suck but I know more about them than what they’ve been in and all that,” he waved a hand around.

“Maybe you just care more about your job than I do,”

“Tell me about your latest game idea, not the one you’re working on. The one that made you want to do this job,”

“Seriously?”

“Yes, I wanna know all about it,”

“It’s kind of in the rough draft stage,”

“It’s a start,”

“I- uh- okay,” God he was getting flustered. “There’s a bandit and he’s stolen something from a very wealthy family, I don’t know what yet,” he added when Gavin opened his mouth. He nodded and waited for more. “And he’s on the run the whole time, trying to blend in and make friends to help him get back to his hometown but I don’t know, it gets harder as it goes. Like I said, it’s shit and in the draft stage,”

“I like it,” Gavin’s voice was soft. Michael wanted to scoff, it was shit.

“What kind of stuff do you like working on most?” he asked hoping they could please get away from his current failure of a video game idea.

“Action of course, but lately they want slow motion makeouts and shit and it’s so uncomfortable,” he cringed. Michael laughed and shook his head. “It is!” he squawked. “People looking all intense at each other and moving slowly, already slow as shit towards each other and then they want me to make it even slower? It doesn’t even make sense,” he huffed.

“People thinks it’s sexy maybe?”

“There’s no maybe, they love that crap but it makes no damn sense,” Gavin shook his head furiously. “I hate watching that stuff in a movie that I haven’t worked on, it’s worse when I’m present,”

“Damn dude, that does sound shitty, at least you get to end the year here!” he said excitedly but it didn’t take a genius to know it was fake. Gavin rolled his eyes at him and looked back out towards the dance floor.

“Better here than anywhere else,”

“You’ve got three minutes left of twenty thirteen, what are your resolutions?”

“Work on better films,” Gavin laughed. “But really, I don’t have any,”

“How can you not have resolutions?”

“Because I’m an adult and I know that resolutions are empty promises everyone makes to make themselves feel better about all the shit they didn’t accomplish this year,”

“Wow,”

“What about you then? Got anything?

“I- I guess not then,”

“Let me guess, eat healthier and work out more?”

“Well yeah,”

“Exactly, and you’re still gonna go out and eat some huge cheeseburger in a few weeks because you had a hard day at work and want to ‘treat yourself’,” he used air quotes and made a face that had Michael nearly choking on his final sip of champagne. He liked that Gavin didn’t really know him, but he seemed to _understand_ him, if that even made any sense but even he was struggling with that. He just spoke what he believed to be the truth, and it was, and Michael felt lighter knowing that someone else could see what he wasn’t saying.

“How about we pick each other’s resolution then?” Gavin offered after a moment. Michael checked his watch. There was a minute and a half left.

“We don’t know anything about each other, let alone things we need to work on for the next year,”

“What’s your last name?”

“Jones,”

“And mines Free and I think you need to make more friends,” he stated. Michael, rolled his eyes but he smiled nonetheless.

“And you need to be nicer to strangers,”

“I don’t really talk to strangers,”

“Then have you been stalking me?” he raised a brow.

“No,”

“Why’d you come over here anyway?” he asked. Gavin’s face went red and he turned around to face the outside world again, and to be honest Michael didn’t know if they were really that lucky after all. They weren’t standing on a rooftop with a pretty boy that seemed to know exactly what to say.

“You looked lonely,” he shrugged. “I had a nice time talking to you,”

“Well maybe don’t walk up to strangers and start conversations until you know they’re not murderers in two-thousand fourteen,” Michael smiled. “That’ll be your resolution,”

“Okay, I’ll make it happen,” Gavin laughed.

“Ten!” they heard everyone behind them yell. They turned to see Burnie and Gus standing on top of a table with plastic top hats on their heads and confetti poppers in their hands. Michael could hardly believe he had been talking to Gavin for an hour already.

“Oh boy,” Michael sighed.

“Nine!” everyone including Gavin shouted.

“This is gonna be so lame,”

“Eight!”

“Seven!”

“Six!”

“Five!”

“Four!”

“Three!”

“Two!”

“Ten bucks says Geoff and Jack give each other a friendly kiss,” Gavin said quickly, taking a breath in time to scream. “One!”

“Deal!” Michael shouted as people started howling and clapping.

Fireworks from all over the city started shooting off and erupting, people below them were shouting in the streets and there was confetti everywhere. People on the roof were kissing passionately, and to Michael’s surprise Caiti stood by her husband patiently while he planted a kiss on Geoff’s lips before turning to Caiti and giving her a real kiss. Michael had a feeling this was a normal occurrence and Gavin absolutely hustled him.

“Damn,” he whispered reaching for his wallet to grab ten dollars when he looked over and saw that Gavin was gone.

He did a quick scan of the roof to see if maybe he had gravitated towards Geoff or anyone else but found that he was completely gone, not a trace of him remained except for an empty glass of champagne on the ledge next to his own.

~~~

_December 31, 2014, 10:59 pm._

Michael didn’t ask Geoff about Gavin.

He had an entire fucking year and he completely avoided the topic of Geoff and his roommate just incase he really had been going crazy from loneliness and imagined him. He didn’t Google him either because that was totally creepy and he wanted no part in internet stalking. He did however try to make friends like Gavin had told him to and surprisingly it worked. He had spent more nights in the last year going out with friends to dinners and drinks than not. It was a…  weird, but definitely a welcome change to his life.

He had surprisingly spent the first few hours of the New Year's party with his coworkers, mingling and talking about the fun things his cousins had sent him and what he had given in return. It was actually quite nice.

Only when the clock hit ten he excused himself from conversation, went to the bathroom and returned only to head to the edge of the roof, same as last year while he waited out the last two hours in peace.

He spent the hour watching people, checking his phone and thinking about all the cool things he had gotten to do and all the amazing events he got to experience because of his position.

He wasn’t really listening to anything around him, stuck in his thoughts until someone slid up next to him and started to speak.

“Man the music this year was shit too,” a familiar British accent stated.

“You mean you don't like _Blurred Lines_ ? Or _The Fox?”_ He spoke without thinking, turning to look at Gavin. He looked mostly the same except for the large beard that was gracing his face this year. His hair was swept up in a feathery style that made Michael wanna run his hands through it and his eyes were still the same bright light hearted green they had been the year before.

“God no,” Gavin shook his head.

“You're no fun,”

“Oh and you're enjoying yourself?”

“I am now that I know I didn't imagine you last year,” he smiled.

“What? Thought you dreamed me up?”

“To be honest I did,”

“Is this you saying I’m actually the man of your dreams?”

“I’m not against throwing you over,” he warned.

“Alright alright, how’ve you been?” he smiled. Michel felt giddy.

“I’ve been okay, what about you?”

“Good, just got back from California,”

“Really? That’s it? Here I was thinking this whole time you might be somewhere more fun, like Egypt or Madagascar or something,”

“California is great fun I’ll have you know. And I actually did go to India for a few months back in March for your information,”

“Ooo look at you, big shot filmographer,”

“You know I could probably push you over too,”

“I’d love to see you try,” Michael challenged.

A woman in black walked toward them, a tray of drinks on her hand. Michael smiled at her and grabbed two, handing one to Gavin before turning back to look over the city.

It was all lit up and if Michael looked hard enough and squinted just slightly he swore he could see the top of the Christmas tree they had done up in downtown just behind city hall.

“So, how’s your video game coming along?”

“Good, we’re almost done with the one we were working on last year-”

“Not that one, I mean the one you actually _want_ to work on,”

“Oh, I haven’t really done anything with it,”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Michael rubbed the back of his neck. He couldn’t help but feel like he had disappointed Gavin, as if he was actually someone that had the right to be disappointed in him. “I’ve just been super busy, making friends and all that like you told me,”

“Oh okay,” Gavin laughed. “It’s a start then,”

“Yeah, see, I did good,”

“Have you actually gone and made yourself popular?”

“Popular isn’t exactly the word I’d use but I have people here that I talk to everyday when I get here and message the entire time. I may even go out for drinks with them,” he whispered the last part, like it was some big scadel but he was grinning through it which just had Gavin rolling his eyes and pushing at Michael’s shoulder. “Hey no, you can’t actually push me over the edge, we’re starting a big project in a few months,”

“God, why did I put so much effort into seeing you tonight,” Gavin said wistfully but there was something mischievous in his eyes that made Michael laugh before he really took in Gavin’s words and blushed bright pink. “But, while I’m dragging myself through an interaction with you I should let you know that I have started to  become more picky when it comes to what jobs I take, and I even skipped some of those fabulous parties to Facetime with Geoff and the important people,” he said it nonchalantly, like he wasn’t secretly proud of himself for this new development but Michael knew it was fake.

“That’s good, I’m glad. No more slow motion makeouts?”

“Just one but it was a minor couple for the opening credits so we didn’t need a full day with them,” he grimaced.

Michael threw his head back and laughed.

In the year since meeting Gavin, Michael had spent a lot of time thinking about him. Partly because the short hour they had spent together was one of Michael’s favorite memories from the last ten or so years, and also because a small part of him was worried that when it came down to it, it wasn’t real. He knew it was a ridiculous thought. Dreaming someone up, someone attractive and funny that questioned him and looked at him like he was something worth seeing, he would never. And the way Gavin moved. Silently and quickly, by Michael’s side in second, grabbing his glass before Michael could even blink, head tilting towards Michael when the music was too loud so he could actually listen to what the redhead had been saying. He was real.

That of course only led to Michael pining for it. Taking a longer look at things in Geoff’s apartment and trying to imagine what thing might have been Gavin’s doing. He even thought about checking out the so called ‘guest room’ but he didn’t want to look rude if Geoff found him snooping.

Now Gavin was standing in front of him, real and grinning, standing in a simple suit, hip cocked with one hand in his pocket, the other wrapped around his drink. He was taller than Michael remembered and his skin was sunkissed, probably from California.

“So, other than work, what have you done?” Michael asked, moving to the ledge and resting his arms on it, looking down at the crowded streets, but now he didn’t really care to think about what anyone below them might be doing, where they were rushing off to.

“I went to visit my parents back in England for a few months, had a fling with a model from Brazil and am currently in the process of buying a house with Geoff,”

“He didn’t say anything about that,” Michael said mindlessly. His was more focused on the ‘fling with a model from Brazil’ thing if he was being honest.

“It’s very hush hush right now,”

“Hmm,”

“So, what about you?”

“I still live in a shitty one bedroom apartment, I didn’t visit my parents at all, not that they would want me to, and I didn’t have a fling with anyone,” he didn’t know why he added the last part in. Why he had felt the need to tell Gavin he was available.

“Hmm,” Gavin hummed, reaching into his coat pocket and pulling out a pack of cigarettes.

Michael raised a brow.

“Want one?”

“No thanks, I didn’t take you for a smoker,”

“Started back in April, haven’t really stopped yet,”

“Brazilian model hurt ya that bad?” he joked, trying to make the mood seem lighter. Behind them people danced and laughed, eating tiny meatballs on toothpicks and getting ‘hammered’ on watered down mixed drinks.

“She wasn’t until August thank you,” he scoffed reaching into his pant pocket for a lighter and flicking it on, taking a long drag from the cigarette before blowing it out, away from Michael and sighing.

“Ah,” he was suddenly interested in the people below them again. Trying to tell what color a woman’s dress was as she ran across the street, hand wrapped around a man’s arm as they rushed towards their destination.

“So, what’s this about your parents?”

“What?”

“You mentioned your parents, what’s wrong with them?”

“Nothing,”

“Well don’t mention it if you aren’t gonna share it mate,” he smiled at the end, telling Michael he was just teasing but for some reason Michael decided to spill, because that was a really nice smile.

“They don’t exactly agree with my career path,”

“No? They wanted a doctor?”

“Lawyer actually, but I was more into telling my own stories instead of trying to piece one together to save someone else’s life,” he knew he was being harsh. They had just wanted what was best for him, not what he wanted for himself.

“Surely they aren’t like that anymore, now that you’re becoming more successful,”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged.

“You don’t know?”

“I stopped talking to them when I moved out here,”

“ _What?_ ”

“What?”

“You just stopped talking to them? They gave birth to you!” he sounded shocked, like the thought of ever doing that himself was absurd.

“They don’t support me, why should I leave them in my life. Toxicity and all that,” he waved his hand around, angling his body away from Gavin, like he was actually interested in the hot dog stand at the corner of the street below.

Gavin spluttered behind him but Michael didn’t look back. “Have they tried calling?”

“Yeah,”

“Michael,”

“What? They didn’t leave any messages,” he turned around and shrugged, stepping back when Gavin took another huff of his cigarette and ashed it off the building, smoke not escaping Michael completely because of the way they faced each other.

“Maybe they wanna talk to you in person,”

“Why do you care?” his voice was rough and he really didn’t want his second ever interaction with Gavin to be like this.

“I just mean… my parents didn’t love the thought of me giving up a degree in science to live behind a camera and film other people living their dreams, but they eventually got over it. They call me every day to ask about my work and tell me how proud they are. Maybe yours will do the same,”

“Doubt it,”

“Try it,”

“What?”

“That’s your resolution. Call your parents,”

“Okay, and yours is to quit smoking,” he countered, hacking up a lung to get a rise out of Gavin who seemed to believe him and put it out, dragging it against the stone ledge and flicking it over the edge of the building. “That’s littering,”

“Sod off,”

“I expect you to quit,”

“And I expect you to call your mum,”

“Fine,”

“Fine,”

Neither of them was actually annoyed in anyway, and Michael knew because when he looked over at Gavin and met his eyes there was a smile being forced down that broke, toothy grin shining in the darkness of his beard.

“Enough heavy shit,” Gavin said clearing his throat. Michael didn’t care what the next words out of his mouth were, just happy to know that he wasn’t too depressing for him. “Any newbies I should know about?” he asked nodding behind them at the company, moving wildly on the dancefloor or leaning on each other for support. Geoff was walking around with a cookie in one hand and a can of diet coke in the other, leading a conga line of four people through a small crowd of dancing interns. Ryan and Trevor were having a cupcake eating contest and Jeremy had himself stationed by the bar, challenging people to jager shots when they approached.

“Lindsay and Mica are new, working in animation and stuff. Adam over there doesn’t work here, but he’s invested a lot of money in the company so he gets invited to all the big events,”

“What do you think his spring bonus is?” Gavin joked and Michael rolled his eyes.

“And Kerry and Miles are working on some small video game right now, very hush hush even to me because they want to have every detail mapped out before they pitch it,”

“Are you going to pitch your game idea any time soon?”

“What?” Michael blushed, not believing that Gavin had remembered that stupid idea.

He had worked on it plenty over the year but he couldn’t for the life of him figure out what it was the bandit should steal. He had the fighting mechanics all planned out, the character designs in his mind perfectly, even some of the dialogue for important scenes but he didn’t know what the hell all the fuss was about.

“You know, your game. Are you going to pitch it?”

“Uh no, I don’t think so,”

“What? Why not? You should’ve done it last year,”

“It’s not done, they’d never even listen to me anyway. I’m still a newbie,”

“So? If you’re creative that should be all that matters,”

“It’s not that easy,”

“Sure,”

“Gavin,”

“Okay, shush, it’s fine. You’ll do it when you’re ready,”

“Yes, thank you,” he sighed. His eyes caught the clock by the doorway, only a half hour to go. “So, tell me more about you then?”

“Me?”

“Yeah, Geoff never talks about you, how’d you two meet?”

“Halo,” Gavin smiled.

“The video game?”

“Yes, we got randomly matched one night and he was one of the funniest blokes I’d ever talked to so I friended him and eventually he moved me out here,”

“You were in England at the time?”

“Yeah,”

“God, that’s some ‘long distance relationship’ shit right there,”

“It is innit?” he laughed.

“By the way, speaking of Geoff, you totally knew he and Jack would kiss,”

“Oh they do it every year,”

“Why?”

Gavin shrugged. “They’re best friends and they have some pact that when they realize how horrible women really are they’ll get married and run away together,”

“That’s… weird,”

“That’s Geoff and Jack,” Gavin smiled.

“Tell me about this model then,”

“Ah,” Gavin clicked his tongue looking away. He reached for his coat pocket again before he seemed to remember what Michael had said earlier and lowered it. “Her name was Ana, she was a model for some cosmetics magazine and I did the shoot and I don’t know,” he stopped, looking up at the clear sky and thinking before he spoke next. “I was going to be there for a month or so working on various projects and after the third time I ended up shooting her for a different thing she asked me out to dinner and I don’t know,” he shrugged.

“Wow, that’s crazy,”

“It’s not that insane,” Gavin sounded embarrassed and a little defensive, like he thought Michael was making fun of him, but as much as the thought made Michael a little jealous he did think it was neat. “I’m sure you’ve had flings just as odd,”

“No way,” he laughed. “Quite the opposite. The only guy I ever dated was when I was a freshmen in college and we only saw each other for a few weeks before he was ditching me for a guy that wasn’t so busy and stressed all the time,”

“You’ve only been with one guy?” he looked shocked, looking Michael up and down like he couldn’t tell why.

“In a relationship sense yes, one night stands…. Not so much,”

“Oh look at you,” Gavin purred. “Snazzy man at the bars,”

Michael rolled his eyes, his neck was warm from the blush and he didn’t think he could look Gavin in the eyes after admitting that. He didn’t even talk to Geoff about that stuff.

“Whatever, tell me more about your family,”

“Oooo,” Gavin sang, clapping his hands together before turning back to face the outside of the party and leaning on the ledge. “My mom is a hair stylist and my dad’s a banker, they’re very old school, posh maybe,” he added. “They’re nice, wanted a scientist, got an artist of sorts, but isn’t that how the story always goes?”

Michael laughed.

“It really is,” he agreed.

Gavin nodded and continued. “They like antique shops and overpriced food,”

“With small portions,”

“Exactly,” Gavin laughed. Michael liked the sound, had missed it in the last year. “They’d like you,” he said, offhand, like it wasn’t a huge statement for a near stranger to make to someone.

“Glad to hear it,” Michael swallowed, taking a long sip from his drink before turning towards the bar. “Want anything?” he gestured. Gavin shook his head and Michael stepped back, holding up a finger to show Gavin that he’d come back for him.

He didn’t like what this guy did to his head. He had only known him for an hour and forty five minutes and yet he made Michael feel funny and blush like he was in middle school and a cute boy noticed him for the first time.

He didn’t realize he had reached the bar until he finally focused his eyes on the bartender in front of him who was giving him a concerned look, like he was about to call for help because Michael was unresponsive and staring at him dead on.

He stumbled his way through ordering a beer and left a five in the tip jar for startling him so bad before he turned and made his way back to where Gavin was thankfully still waiting for him.

His back was to the party and as Michael crept towards him he wondered what he looked like to Gavin when he made his way over earlier. Because right now Gavin looked peaceful, he looked content to just be standing tall in the warm, but not humid air, high above the world and looking down at people that he didn’t know and probably never would. His hair blew with the breeze and his mouth was pulled into a small smile.

If they didn’t only have ten more minutes Michael might’ve continued staring but instead he cleared his throat to let Gavin know he was back and the smile he was met with was blinding.

“Do you think they’re on their first date?” Was all Gavin offered before turning back and pointing below them. Michael moved forward and looked down, but there were many people rushing around and he didn’t realize what he was supposed to be looking at.

“Who?”

“Them,” Gavin pointed. When Michael still didn’t see them Gavin grabbed his arm and pulled him to his position using his own hand to point and after Michael’s skin stopped burning he finally saw the couple Gavin was talking about. They were too high up for Michael to make out any details about them but for all he knew they could’ve been an elderly couple on their fiftieth anniversary.

“I don’t know? Does it matter?”

“Of course it matters Michael,” he liked how his name sounded with the accent, especially when it was said with such exasperation. “What if they’re about to have their first kiss?”

“For someone that hates slow motion kisses and love stories you seem to be very interested in a completely unknown couples relationship,”

“I’m just trying to have some fun Michael, you’re the only good company here and you left me alone. I got curious,”

“Oh?” he tried not to dwell on the ‘only good company’ part because when he looked around the roof he could easily find about fifteen other people that were way better than him.

“Yes, and I hate filming shitty love stories, I said nothing bad about _writing_ them,” he smiled.

“Have you already planned out their lives,”

“I have,” he nodded. “They’ll get married in April, in his grandmas backyard,”

“I hate that I know you,” Michael laughed.

“No you don’t. I add excitement to your boring life,” Gavin wiggled a brow.

“I guess you do… a little,”

“A lot,”

“Sure,”

“I’m the one that got you to make friends,”

“And you’re probably the one that’s gonna kill me and turn my sad life into some epic love story for some other guy to film one day, right?” he teased and Gavin actually blushed.

“It was just a stupid question,” he shrugged. “I was bored, you came back and I wanted a second opinion,”

There was more to it though, Michael could tell.There was something more thoughtful in his gaze. “Well, for the sake of your career as a best selling author or epic filmmaker, yes, they could’ve been off to have their first New Years kiss,”

“Glad you’ve come to your senses,”

“Ten!”

“Christ, already?” Gavin hissed.

“Nine!”

Michael turned to watch his coworkers run around the roof to get to their loved ones, ready to kiss them or hug them and like last year he saw Jack and Geoff standing close together, Caiti waiting nearby. He laughed.

“Eight!”

“Seven!”

“Six!”

“Five!”

“Wanna bet on Ja-”

“Don’t even,”

“Four!”

“Three!”

“Two!”

“One! Happy New Year!”

It was just like the year before, fireworks started popping off across the city, there was screaming and cheering coming from every ally and street, every open window and bar underneath them. And just like last year Jack and Geoff pecked, Ryan and Trevor kissed passionately, Lindsay and Jeremy were hugging and when Michael turned back around to say goodnight to Gavin the other man was already gone and a half empty pack of cigarettes remained on the ledge.

~~~

_December 31st, 2015, 11:28 pm._

He Googled Gavin. As soon as he had gotten home the year before he was on his computer looking at Gavin’s credits on films he had worked on and maybe he watched one or two… or all of them. He had watched each one at least five times, trying to figure out what parts could’ve happened with Gavin behind the camera and he was fairly certain he knew them all by heart now, but he’d never ask to make sure he was right.

He even saw Gavin’s bedroom once this year. Had gotten a little too drunk at one of Geoff’s game nights and had to spend the night in the guest room that had a full closet, mostly just blue t-shirts and salmon colored shorts. Michael kinda hoped he never saw them in action.

He didn’t get to do much sleeping that night either because all his drunk mind could think about was the fact that he was so close to Gavin, to his life, to his old camera equipment and his desktop computer and his clothes and pictures of his family, yet Gavin was across the world at that point and it fascinated him that someone could feel so close and be so far away.

He had also made one grave mistake over the year.

He asked Geoff about Gavin and the floodgates opened.

Geoff had a million questions of his own, asking if Michael was interested, if he wanted Gavin’s number, if he wanted Geoff to ask Gavin about him, if he wanted this and if he wanted that. Michael said no about a hundred times every time he was asked.

Every few weeks Geoff would go out of his way to mention what country or city Gavin was currently in and if he was having any fun and when he was supposed to be home.

Michael knew what he was trying to do but he also felt a little weird about it, about knowing everything about Gavin and Gavin knowing nothing about it. It made him feel like a stalker if he was being honest.

As the end of the year approached Geoff made it very clear to Michael that Gavin would be at the party and he had shaved off his beard and he was tanner and this and that and if Michael was on a blind date he was sure he’d be able to pick Gavin out of a crowd of a million people with all the info Geoff continually gave him.

The week before New Years Eve Geoff left a note on Michael’s desk that read, in neat cursive, _Gavin will be late this year. Don’t show up too early._

Michael crumpled it up and threw it in his trash can without a second though, but he would admit it bummed him out a little.

He didn’t show up until right around eleven figuring that if the only enjoyable part of his evening wouldn’t show up until closer to midnight, then so would he.

No one even batted an eye when he walked in and signed his name on the sheet. He walked right through a crowd of people by the snack table to grab a beer and make his way over to the ledge where he took a deep breath and tried to look like he wasn’t obviously waiting for someone.

After ten minutes alone he jumped when he felt someone behind him, spinning around with a smile on his face that dimmed when he saw it was only Geoff who wiggled his eyebrows at him with a grin.

“Aw, don’t I get a flirty smile too?” he joked, when Michael only raised a brow Geoff laughed. “Just my roommate then, treat him well,”

“It’s not like that,”

“Oh it’s not? Because every time I mention you to him he goes bright red,”

“Really?” Michael leaned forward on his tip toes, skin heating up.

“I don’t know, we only really talk over the phone and I never mention you because you asked me not to but now I know you’re interested,” he smirked.

If Michael wasn’t such a good person he might’ve pushed Geoff over the ledge.

“Fuck off man,”

“Dude, just ask him out, he’ll say yes,”

“One, you don’t know that and two, he’s always traveling. It would be pointless,”

“He can make time for you ya know? That’s a thing,”

“Shut up,”

“I’m just letting you know, you don’t have to stand here moping all night, you could be on the phone with him right now counting down the seconds it takes for him to climb the stairs to you,”

“You’re the actual worst person,”

“There he is,” Geoff gestured to the door. Michael turned away, convinced that Geoff was just messing with him but a few moments later there were footsteps coming their way and Geoff was no longer by Michael’s side. He turned to find Gavin hugging Geoff and patting him on the back before Geoff was stepping away and nodding towards Michael before he moved back to the rest of the party.

“Hey,” Gavin said easily, taking the spot that Geoff had stood in.

“Hi,” Michael wanted to kick himself for how fucking giddy he sounded.

“Still a shit party I see,”

“Maybe you should try talking to Matt and Burnie about it, as a concerned guest of course,”

“Oh yes, absolutely,” Gavin said in a posh tone, nodding approvingly before he broke off in a fit of giggles and really looked at Michael.

Michael took the opportunity to do the same, looking Gavin up and down. The beard had been replaced by a layer of stubble and his skin was darker, sunkissed. He looked good.

“So, I say,” Gavin started turning back to the party. When Michael did the same Gavin reached over and plucked his almost empty beer bottle from his fingers and took a sip. “Christ, that’s warm,”

“I got it when I walked in,”

“When was that? Six hours ago,” he gagged, handing the bottle back over.

“More like an hour,” Michael rolled his eyes.

“Whatever,” Gavin waved him off, “as I was saying before you tried to kill me-”

“You took it from me! I could’ve warned you,”

“ _As I was saying,_ ” he continued. “We don’t have time for all the pointless chit chat so why don’t you just go ahead and tell me if you completed your resolution,”

“Wow, yeah Gavin I’m doing great, how are you? Oh really? You worked on that many movies? Met that many people? Yeah work has been kicking my ass too,”

“Glad we got that out of the way,”

Michael glared him for a moment before he shrugged. “Yeah, I called my parents,”

“And?”

“They were happy to hear from me,”

“See, there ya go!” Gavin clapped him on the shoulder. There were two layers separating them, Michael’s jacket and shirt, but still his skin erupted into flames, licking their way up to his neck and down the rest of his arm.

“Yeah, turns out they’re really proud of me or some shit,” he shrugged.

“That’s really good Michael, I’m glad you gave it a shot,”

“Yeah well… thanks for making it the only thing I had to do this year,”

“Oh please, you had plenty to do, that was just the one I made impossible for you to procrastinate on,”

“You know I totally could’ve just avoided it and lied to you,”

“You wouldn’t though. That’s not your style,”

“And how would you know?”

Michael liked talking to Gavin, a lot. He was very expressive with his eyes and he talked with his hands a lot and most of the time he couldn’t finish a sentence without grinning.

“I just get a feeling,” Gavin shrugged.

“Whatever, enough of me, what about you?”

“Check my pocket,” Gavin patted his chest and Michael raised a brow. “Come on now, look,” he reached for Michael’s hand but Michael moved faster, hand patting lightly where Gavin’s breast pocket was and finding it empty of a small rectangular box. “I’d offer to have you check my pants pockets as well but I figure I should ask you to dinner first,”

“Probably,” Michael laughed stepping back. It was suddenly too hot on the roof even though that winter had been brisker than others, cool air brushing across their bodies. “Well congratulations,”

“Thanks Michael. To be honest it was a lot harder than I thought considering I hadn’t been doing it that long,”

“Well I’m glad I helped,”

“I almost couldn’t do it,”

“But you had to, because lying to a stranger isn’t your style,” Michael said, almost wistfully, turning back to the streets below and taking a sip of his warm beer and to be honest he could see why Gavin had gagged. It was repulsive.

There was only fifteen minutes left till the new year and Michael wanted to make it last as long as possible.

“So, did you pitch your game?”

“Uh yeah actually,”

“Wait seriously?”

“Yes,”

“Shit, I need to pick a new resolution for you,”

Michael threw his head back and laughed before shaking his head. “I figured you’d have something to say about it so I thought I’d beat you to it,”

“Sod off,”

“Well, it went well, I still don’t have anything for the bandit to steal honestly, but they’ve set me up with some of their best writers to figure it out. Have a meeting next week with em,”

“That’s awesome Michael, but just… don’t let them change it too much alright?” the way Gavin had said it lead Michael to believe he had previous experience with such things himself.

“Care to expand on that?”

“I thought you might comment on my movie so I went ahead and pitched my movie so some trusted filmmakers over in England and they just kinda went overboard with it,”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean they said we’d do it and within two weeks I backed out because it wasn’t mine anymore,”

“Tell me about it?”

“Just your average shitty romance about a couple on their first date on New Years Eve,”

Michael hummed, remembering Gavin’s question from last year, the look on his face when he asked, the gears turning in his head.

“Just a stupid little thing, to get started ya know? But… it just stopped feeling like mine when they started adding side characters and unnecessary conflicts,” he shrugged.

“Well I’m glad you backed out, knew when to take the money and run,”

“I bolted,” Gavin rolled his eyes. “They weren’t exactly thrilled but I left the country right after,”

“Damn dude, if the cameras were rolling they might’ve been able to turn them chasing you in the airport and winning you back into a movie itself,”

“I like the way you think, but I didn’t really give them the chance since I texted them that I was out as I bought my ticket for the next day and they didn’t know where I was staying,” he shrugged.

“That’s cold dude,”

“Gotta do what you gotta do,”

Michael couldn’t help laughing because while he didn’t really know all the ins and outs of Gavin, that totally seemed like something he’d do.

“So Michael, what do you think you should work on more next year? I’m out of ideas now,”

“I think I’ve finally achieved perfection status,”

“Work on ego, check,” Gavin drew an invisible checkmark in the air before stumbling back from where Michael elbowed him in the stomach. “Really though, we have a tradition going,”

“I don’t know man, what if we just don’t do one this year?”

“Well now you’re just being ridiculous,” Gavin scoffed. “How about you figure out what the hell your bandit steals and make a bloody video game,”

“Alright, calm down,” Michael laughed. “I’ll figure it out,”

“Good, I want something new to play, Geoff only hands me stuff he’s personally worked on,”

“Geoff’s stuff is always fun,”

“It’s so predictable. Oh it was the cousin all along, or oh the gun is stashed inside the fireplace. I’m over it,”

“I see you’re a supportive roommate,” Michael rolled his eyes.

“Only the best,” he nodded.

Five minutes left. Michael tried to look like he wasn’t internally panicking.

“And you Gavin, need to… make a movie,”

“Well I feel that ones a little harder-”

“Figure it out then Gavin, it won’t be easy to make a game but I can at least get it rolling and well on its way, so you can do the same,”

“Well alright,” Gavin shrugged. “I’ll start working on my movie as soon as possible,”

“Good, I’m glad. I better get a ticket to the premier,”

“I’ll give Geoff two and if you get one you get one,”

Michael elbowed him in the side which made Gavin fall back into the ledge, squeaking out a laugh that made Michael grin. He had a really nice laugh, especially when he threw his head back and showed off his long tan neck. Michael tried to look away but the sight was enchanting and for a split second Michael thought about hearing this sound year round. About being able to call Gavin in the mornings and hear his voice lodged with sleep, could picture him rubbing his eyes and yawning as he reached for his ringing phone, hair a mess. Michael thought about calling him with exciting news, about work and hearing Gavin’s smile through the phone, telling him he was proud of happy for him, he thought about Gavin ranting about actors and telling him about parties he was at, pushing through the crowds to get to a quiet spot so he could hear Michael better and laugh as Michael told him all sorts of crazy stories. And then he thought about picking Gavin up from the airport every few months, waiting with a sign that made Gavin throw his head back and laugh from the crude drawings or glittery letters. And when Gavin reached him he would jump into Michael’s arms and they’d have the kind of beautiful airport kiss that Gavin had filmed a million times in slow motion. He liked the thought of that.

“Ten!”

Michael jumped, looking around everyone moving across the floor to each other and then he realized that he had wasted his last few moments with Gavin daydreaming.

“Nine!”

“Well Michael, it was good seeing you again,”

“Eight!”

“You too Gavin,” Michael didn’t dare take his eyes off of Gavin this year, knowing that as soon as he did Gavin would cease to exist.

“Seven!”

“Six!”

“Five!”

“Four!”

“Three!”

“Two!”

“One! Happy New Year!”

Michael didn’t have to look around, knowing that everyone would be doing the same damn things they did every year. There’d be kissing and hugging, some more friendly than others, there were fireworks and confetti poppers and everything was the exact same. Only this time he wasn’t paying any attention to that, he was watching Gavin. Gavin whose green eyes reflected fireworks so perfectly. If Michael didn’t already know that this was a sight he could never forget, he’d wish he had a camera just to make sure.

“Well, I’ve gotta be off now,” Gavin said after a moment, before the grand finale, before all the confetti had finished hitting the ground and before everyone’s lips had even parted. Michael should’ve been used to it but he was really hoping that Gavin might’ve stayed.

“See you next year?”

“You know it,” Gavin grinned.

And then he was making his way towards the entrance and Michael almost said something. Almost called out to him, but instead he just watched him go and prayed that the next year would pass quickly and painlessly.

~~~

_December 31, 2016 11:37 pm._

Michael was drunk. Like on the verge of forgetting his name drunk.

Geoff had passed along the info that Gavin was going to spend the New Year in England that year and that Michael might as well skip the party that year but instead Michael decided to just show up early and spend the evening getting drunk by himself. He figured that he was well known enough that it wouldn’t be too awkward and no one would judge him too hard.

He had actually gone over and inserted himself into a few conversations throughout the five or so hours he had been there and he was just about to add himself to Geoff, Griffon and Cole’s conversation when he realized that all of the alcohol had caught up with him and if he didn’t run down the stairs to the nearest bathroom in the next thirty seconds he might’ve dropped dead.

In his attempt to ‘run’ down the stairs he ended up slipping and slamming his butt down on the bottom step before he was able to shake himself off and stand back up, gripping the railing for support while he moved his dizzy and sore body down to the bathrooms.

Luckily there was no one else inside so Michael could pee in peace before he was stumbling to the sinks to wash his hands and after actually looking himself in the mirror and seeing how _wrecked_ he looked he turned the water on as cold as he could and splashed it on his face before taking a second look.

Maybe getting drunk wasn’t really the best way to cope with the fact that the person he only saw once a year wouldn’t be making it this year, but he could also just blame it on the fact that his video game was scheduled to come out in April.

Everyone except for Geoff probably thought that was the case anyway.

When he walked out of the bathroom and looked up at the top of the stairs he was suddenly woozy, head spinning in circles and stomach flipping upside down. He reached his arm out to steady himself and came into contact with the hard wall that he let his body lean towards, sinking to the ground and resting his head on his knees.

He took deep breaths until the carpet was on the floor instead of the walls again and he could blink without feeling like he was going to throw up every time he opened his eyes.

“What’d I miss?” a familiar voice somewhere above him asked. Michael’s head snapped up and then his eyes shut tightly because, okay, he should’ve known better than to move so suddenly.

“You’re here?” his voice was rough and he sounded like he was in a daze, but if Gavin was really standing in front of him holding a bottle of champagne after Michael was told specifically by Geoff that he wouldn’t be, maybe he had already passed out and this was what his dream supplied him.

“Yeah, a bit late though,”

“Geoff said you weren’t coming,” he said it around a groan so he wasn’t sure if Gavin actually understood him but when Gavin’s mouth formed a tiny ‘o’ and his eyebrows knit together in shock Michael knew he did.

“You asked Geoff about me?”

“Made the mistake one time and he won’t shut up about you,” he reached up to rub at his aching forehead, about to make an attempt at standing up when instead Gavin slid down next to him against the wall.

“He loves talking about me,” Gavin laughed. “Whenever I’m actually home and we go out and run into someone he talks about me until the other person runs away,”

“You’re kind of a lot to take in,” Michael mumbled. Gavin laughed next to him, silently so Michael only knew because he could feel Gavin shaking next to him from how close they were.

“I’ll take that as a compliment,”

“It is,” he nodded.

“Good,” Gavin hummed. “If it makes you feel any better I might’ve asked about you too,”

“Really?”

“Yeah, and now every phone call is Geoff gushing about the work you’re doing and all the times you’ve ever hung out,” he waved his hand around and rolled his eyes but the smile on his face told Michael he wasn’t actually upset about this information.

“We’re in this together,” Michael said before he had to lean his head back against the wall and had to breathe for another few moments.

“I see you’ve gotten started without me which is rude by the way,”

“I didn’t think you’d be here,”

“So you decided to get trashed,”

“Well yes, no one here is fun if you’re sober except for Geoff but he’s too popular,”

“Oh please, he’d rather talk to you for the entire party than everyone else,”

“That’s so nice,” Michael forced out, swallowing what little saliva he could produce for his dry dry mouth.

“O...kay. I’m gonna go get you some water and get myself a few drinks so I can catch up,” he stood up setting the bottle of champagne down where he sat.

“Who’s that even for? You trying to woo someone?”

“I bring a bottle every year,”

“Oh,”

“Yeah, only this year I think we’ll just keep it for ourselves,”

“Like your thinking,”

Gavin was quiet for a minute, looking Michael over before he whispered, “maybe I’ll keep most of it to myself. Are you gonna be okay?” his voice got louder at the end, slower, so he could make sure Michael heard him.

“Yeah, fine,” he waved him off.

Gavin sighed and made his way up the stairs where voices got louder when he walked out and Michael could very clearly hear Geoff’s shocked voice above the others.

Michael knew he probably wouldn’t be seeing Gavin again for a while but only two minutes later Gavin was descending the stairs with a bottle of water and two empty glasses in his hands.

“Drink this entire thing and then I might consider giving you some champagne,”

“Such a parent,” Michael would’ve rolled his eyes if he didn’t know that it would just make everything hurt again. He took the bottle from Gavin and opened it, taking a long slow sip.

“I never get to be the responsible sober one, that’s always Geoff, I’m going to take my role very seriously,”

“Breaking out into the acting world I see,”

“Of course,”

They were quiet while Michael drank, only the voices from above them filling the silence between them. No one else was going to show up to the party it seemed so they had the stairwell to themselves.

“How’d the game go?” Gavin asked when Michael only had a sip left.

“Coming out soon,” he said it casually, because to him it was old news, yes it was still exciting but he had had plenty of time to get used to the fact that his name would be one of the important ones in the credits, one of the first ones listed. Geoff apparently hadn’t passed this information along to Gavin in their phone calls though because Gavin leaned away from him and gasped in shock.

“That’s amazing! Sorry,” he added when Michael winced from his loud voice. “So what does he steal?”

“The princess’ heart,”

Gavin laughed but when Michael didn’t follow he broke off in an awkward cough. “Really?”

“Yes, she’s dead and they need to get a wizard to save her but the bandit takes it and runs,”

“Huh,” Gavin said thoughtfully, taking a moment to look around before he spoke again. “Definitely interesting and something I’ll spend a lot of time playing,”

“And analyzing to make fun of me with later I’m sure,”

“I would never! Geoff however…”

“I know, he’s already made fun of me for some spelling mistakes in the subtitles that Ryan had to fix for me,”

“Yeah he’ll do that. I once did an entire shoot with the lens cap on, when I was first starting out of course, but Geoff still brings it up every time he sees me holding a camera,”

“That’s amazing,”

“It’s really annoying,”

“I bet,”

Michael could tell from all the noise upstairs that they were getting close to midnight. People were no doubt taking their final shots and getting their noise crankers or whatever the hell people actually called the small devices that made Michael hate his life just a little bit at the start of every year. But Gavin had just got there and Michael wasn’t ready for him to say goodbye again.

When Michael came back to reality he noticed that Gavin was about to shoot off the champagne top and the worried look on his face led Michael to believe that maybe Gavin wasn’t really good at it- and yup, it absolutely bounced off the wall across from them and came back towards them at warp speed but luckily Gavin shoved Michael’s shoulder and he was able to get him down right before he was almost blinded for the rest of his life. Of course if his head wasn’t doing backflips again he might’ve been able to actually thank Gavin who was now covered in champagne and smiling sheepishly at Michael.

“Well, at least we still have _some,_ ” Gavin laughed.

When he felt slightly normal again he dragged himself back into a sitting position, not even feeling bad when he slumped into Gavin’s side, resting his head down on his shoulder.

“Here,” Gavin held the bottle to his lips as a silent offer. Michael opened his mouth without a second thought but they both knew he probably shouldn’t have continued drinking.

That didn’t stop either of them and by the time there was seven minutes left until midnight they had polished off the bottle and Gavin, who was apparently a complete lightweight, was giggly and tipsy. Michael liked the heat his skin gave off, the red tint to his cheeks. It felt nice, just sitting with him like this.

“I’m glad I met you Michael,”

“Me too,” he mumbled. He could feel the fog in his mind getting thicker, eyes starting to slip shut before he was popping them back open because by some magic chance he had gotten his time with Gavin that year, and he really didn’t wanna completely ruin it by passing out.

“Well, I managed to find a few filmmakers that were interested in my film,” Gavin said suddenly. Michael could only nod against his shoulder to prove he was still listening. “I’m gonna fly out to New York next week to talk with them more about it,”

“That’s good,” his voice was a whisper, afraid that if it was any louder it would shock the comfortable position they were currently in.

“So yet again we both finished our resolutions and don’t have much time for anything else,”

It didn’t take Michael long to figure out what Gavin’s new resolution should be.

“Love,” he said after clearing his throat.

“What?” Gavin said quickly but with the accent it just came out as an affronted ‘Wot?’ sound that almost made Michael laugh.

“You always show up alone,”

Gavin laughed. “I don’t work here and to be fair you’re always alone too,”

“Then we both know what to work on,”

“Find love in the new year? Sounds doable,”

“It probably won’t be,” Michael mumbled and after realizing how rude that sounded he sat up quickly, pushing through the pain he should’ve been used to by now, and looking at Gavin who was biting back a smile. “Not for you! I mean… and maybe not for me, but you know what I mean? Everything sounds easier said than done. I wasn’t trying to say-”

“Wow, you just rose from the dead,” Gavin laughed. He reached out to wrap an arm around Michael’s shoulder and pull him back into his side to rest. “I get what you mean Michael, and it’ll probably be hard for both of us, but isn’t love always?”

“Yeah,”

“Then that’s okay, we haven’t failed each other yet,”

“That’s true,”

“Ten!”

“It’s that time,” Gavin sighed.

“Nine!”

“I hate this part,” Michael said wistfully. He felt Gavin tense for only a second before he was nodding his head in agreement.

“Eight!”

“Seven!”

“Six!”

“Come on, let’s get you stood up,” Gavin moved away.

“Five!”

“Four!”

He reached down for Michael’s hands and slowly lifted him until he was standing, leaning back against the wall and breathing deeply.

“Three!”

“Two!”

“One! Happy New Year!”

“I’ll go find Geoff and ask him if he can get you home,”

“Where are you always running off to at midnight anyway?” he sounded like a whining child whose parent just told him he would need a babysitter for the day that he hated.

“I like to go take pictures of all the different celebrations I come across,”

“If I wasn’t so fucked up I’d join you… if that was okay of course,” Michael hadn’t even realized Gavin moving up the stairs, stopping in the center to look back down at Michael.

“I would love that,” he spoke it so softly Michael almost didn’t hear him over the craziness going on upstairs. It was so honest and his eyes were so kind that Michael hoped to fuck he’d be able to remember that moment forever. “Happy New Year Michael,”

“Happy New Year Gavin,”

And then he was up on the roof and a couple seconds later Geoff was coming downstairs and leading Michael out of the hotel by an arm wrapped around his own, mumbling something about what a moron he looked like but he smiled the entire time.

When Michael woke up the next morning he was grateful that he could still remember every detail, even through the pounding headache and nausea.

~~~

_December 31, 2017, 11:56 pm._

Geoff hadn’t said anything about Gavin not showing up, but here they were. Michael was painfully sober, the year was over, and Gavin was nowhere to be found.

This was gonna be the year. He was gonna go for it, kiss Gavin at midnight and tell him that somehow, someway, he had fallen hopelessly in love with the idiot. And now Gavin was missing.

He was being unfair he knew, there were plenty of good things that had happened that year and Michael still put all his end of the year happiness on someone he barely saw as it was.

His game had come out and aside from a few minor issues it went well and he was already asked to start thinking up more ideas because his boss loved it too. He had finally made a name for himself around the company, had gotten a pretty decent raise and had made many new friends but he still felt like none of it mattered if Gavin wasn’t there to hear all about it.

Part of Michael knew it didn’t really matter if Gavin wasn’t there that night because according to Geoff, Gavin was going to be taking the entire next year off to stay at home while his movie was being edited and he didn’t have anything lined up. So really Michael would’ve been guaranteed to see Gavin throughout the next year at least a dozen times, but he wanted to start it all off now.  

He had also made sure not to drink too much so he wouldn’t repeat the year before but when it hit eleven-thirty and Gavin wasn’t there he had decided ‘fuck it’ and gotten himself a second beer and a shot of vodka. Of course he was still sober and more than capable of remembering every detail of his boring night, but he absolutely wished he was passed out somewhere else.

“Ten!”

“Fucking aye,” Michael muttered, taking a long swig of his drink.

“Nine!”

“Eight!”

“Seven!”

“Six!”

“Five!”

“Four!”

“Three!”

“Two!”

“One! Happy New Year!”

Michael turned his back to the party, staring up at the sky instead of at all the happy people behind him. Everything else was the same except for the fact that Michael didn’t have a good end to the year like they all did.

“Holy shit,” an out of breath voice said next to him and if there wasn’t a ledge right there and Michael was stupid enough to actually stand there without one, he would’ve fallen.

Gavin looked wrecked, hair a mess and skin covered in a sheen of sweat. His jacket was unbuttoned and his tie was loose around his neck, shirt untucked.

“Gavin?”

“I got-” he stopped to heave a breath. “Stuck in traffic,” he stopped again before reaching for Michael’s beer and taking a long sip. “Had to run like five blocks to be here,” he leaned forward and placed his hands on his knees while he finished breathing. Michael was too shocked to say anything. “I forgot my champagne in the Uber and I think I lost my phone somewhere out there,” he gestured over the ledge to the ground below.

Michael laughed and when he opened his mouth to speak Gavin cut him off. “I didn’t do my resolution, didn’t even try if I’m being honest,”

Michael had forgotten all about that over the year, blocking it out because of how embarrassed he was that he had made such a declaration. He was kind of hoping that Gavin had been just tipsy enough to forget it as well but he knew better.

He didn’t really know what to say but Gavin was looking at him expectantly so Michael just nodded and said, “same here,”

And with those words something shifted and before Michael could blink Gavin was surging forward and kissing him, hard and fast, like he had also been waiting to do it for years and was getting it all out in this one glorious kiss.

Michael gave it back as good as he got, moving so the middle of his back hit the ledge and he could pull Gavin closer, fisting his hands in Gavin’s jacket and opening his mouth for the other man.

Michael’s body felt like it was on fire and suddenly he couldn’t hear the fireworks, or the screams and cheers of his coworkers somewhere else on the roof or any of the people below them. It was all Gavin. _Gavin Gavin Gavin._ He didn’t want it to stop.

Gavin it seemed needed it to because he pulled away for air, hands still cupping Michael’s face and eyes wide, lips puffy and red. He looked beautiful.

“I’m sorry it’s after midnight,” Gavin whispered.

Michael couldn’t help but laugh because they had really only missed it by a few minutes but it was still the best start to a year Michael had ever had.

“Luckily we have all year to practice for next time,” he teased. Gavin didn’t actually seem to be paying any attention, eyes fixed on Michael’s mouth so he could start kissing it again as soon as he stopped talking.

Michael grinned against his mouth for only a second before he had to pull away because he had to let out a chuckle at the eager look on Gavin’s face.

“Happy New Year Gavin,”

“Yeah, yeah, Happy New Year, can I keep kissing you?”

“Well since you did run five blocks to get here, I guess,” he shrugged.

“Only for you,”

Michael considered saying something else, only for a moment, but when Gavin was looking at him the way he was and with the thumbs up Geoff was giving them over Gavin’s shoulder Michael decided to just go for it.

They were just gonna have to go take pictures of everyone next year because for once it didn’t look like Gavin was going anywhere any time soon.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you all enjoyed. Happy New Year!


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